It was the third day now.

Elendril continued to glide through the forest, the creatures oblivious to him.

He tore another piece of rabbit from the rabbit leg he had cooked this morning. 

He was very satisfied.

When he had heard the meat sizzle while cooking, he had almost grabbed it right then and there and begun eating, regardless if it was cooked or not.

Suddenly, he heard something odd.

Rustle rustle!

He stopped for a moment, then dropped his rabbit leg and fled.

It was not a noise that belonged in the forest!

Elendril had lived in the forest his entire life. 

Naturally, he would know when something was out of place in the forest.

What he had just heard fit this!

He began to glide as fast as he could and hid in a tree.

He draped his cloak over his body and hugged the tree!

Behind him, the stomping of men could be heard. 

Stomp! Stomp!

Rustle rustle!

They moved extremely quickly, disregarding any noise they made!

Elendril's heart jumped into his throat.

Suddenly, they stopped. 

"Captain! I think he's in the vicinity."

Smack!

"Good job, Chip! I knew I could count on you!"

"As always, Captain!"

Elendril stood in the tree, frozen. 

He did not even breathe completely.

He very lightly breathed, only up to the point where his chest met his tunic, then exhaled. 

He did not dare to make excessive movements near them.

These were rank D adventurers!

That was the only possibility.

Rank E adventurers would not have been able to catch up to him so fast!

"Let's keep heading in this direction, Captain. My intuition tells me he's somewhere down there!"

"Alright! First toast is on me tonight!"

They began to move again.

Swish! Swish!

They swept past Elendril and disappeared into the foliage.

Only after he no longer heard them did Elendril move again.

He moved the cloak back to his back and sat down. 

'Thank Terneim that was my last rabbit leg! If they had caught me earlier while I still had the other leg stored, I might've been caught!'

He took a swig of water.

The sweet water flowed down his parched throat. 

Elendril thought for a moment.

Should he continue heading forward now and risk meeting the D rank adventurers?

Or should he stay still and wait for night, when it would be harder to see?

Or do both!

He began to head northwest, gliding through the foliage. 

-----(:)-----

After heading northwest for two hours, only then did he decide to move west again. 

Catching a rabbit, he continued to move until he found a suitable resting place. 

Fashioning several skewers, he used his hunting knife to cut up the rabbit into edible chunks, and skillfully skewered the chunks with the wooden skewers.

He tossed the entrails to the side to bury later. 

Finally, after creating a basic earthen grid with magic, he placed the skewers above the fire.

Sizzle!

Crackle!

After a few minutes, trying to resist the drool that trickled down his face, he flipped the skewers over. 

Once they were almost done, he quickly took them off the fire and cut off the loose ends of the skewers. 

Changing the grid into a bowl, he placed the fresh skewers there.

The skewers were ready!

As he grabbed his first, steaming skewer, the delicious aroma wafted into his nose.

He couldn't resist and bit into it!

The delicious juices and fat gushed into his mouth!

It had a very light flavor, with a hint of sweetness!

He groaned in delight.

Elendril slowly cherished his first bite, trying to squeeze all the juices out of the meat.

After the first bite, he quickly devoured the skewers. 

He sighed in ecstasy.

"I wish Dad and Ezekriel were here..."

He caught himself.

He shook his head vigorously, and slapped his cheeks.

"No! Happy thoughts while eating! Don't ruin the memory of the skewers! Happy outdoor skewer dinner night memory!!"

He continued to polish the skewers, somewhat subdued. 

As he reached for the final skewer, he froze.

Pad, pad!

He grabbed his bow and jumped up into the tree!

As he jumped, he saw a shadow flash by where he had just sat a moment ago!

Growwwwl!

He jumped higher into the tree.

Thud!

The tree violently shook!

The branches thrashed Elendril as he continued to climb up. 

He reached the top of the tree! 

It was a considerably shorter tree than the other trees.

Elendril had chosen this tree specifically for that.

This way, if people searching for him decided to scout for him via the trees, there was no way they would accidentally use his sleeping tree to scout!

However, this proved to be extremely dangerous for him now.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Glancing down, Elendril first noticed the gleaming red eyes.

Monsters!

They were monster wolves in a pack!

He could see several of them gathered around his skewers and the entrails of the rabbit!

All in all, Elendril estimated there were about 10 wolves in total! 

As the wolves finished off the food, they began to gather around the tree Elendril stood in.

Many gleaming red eyes gazed up at Elendril, illuminated by the feeble moonlight and her stars!

One wolf tried to climb onto the tree!

It managed to reach the first branch, but quickly fell down.

Instead, the wolves began to line up and ram into the tree!

With their enhanced physiques, each time made the tree violently shake!

Elendril's thoughts quickly swirled. 

Whenever he had met monsters in the past, he had always handled them himself, or retreat back home.

However, the most monsters he had ever handled was 3!

There was nowhere for him to run, either. 

His home was gone!

There was no help to be found.

It was the dead of night!

As he thought, the tree began to shake more violently!

Elendril knew the tree could not handle it for much longer. 

He quickly jumped into the next tree!

Swish, swish!

The wolves, keeping track of him, followed immediately!

Realizing their prey could move between trees, they no longer rammed into the trees.

Instead, they gazed malevolently at him, waiting for him to make a mistake!

Elendril knew this could not go on for very long.

He had lost his flask when the wolves had ambushed him!

Without water, if he did not reach Chronosum soon, he would die of thirst or make a mistake and be eaten alive!

He silently checked his quiver.

Thankfully, before being chased, he had managed to retrieve the arrows. 

He had 20 arrows! 

However, Elendril knew this was not going to be enough. 

Unless he directly hit the vitals, he typically needed 3-4 arrows to kill a monster.

Judging from their strength, these wolf monsters were likely E ranks!

Elendril decided to attack anyways. 

If he sat in the tree and did nothing, his chances of survival were nonexistent!

Retrieving his bow from his back, he carefully drew an arrow from the quiver. 

He nocked the arrow, and pulled the bow back.

Creak!

Reaching maximum power, he carefully aimed for one of the gleaming red eyes. 

It stood in the middle of the pack, so if he did not hit the eye, he had the chance of hitting something else.

Fwoosh!

-----(:)-----

Below Falstein, a forgotten temple stood. 

Long abandoned by its followers, only a lonely altar stood in the magnificent hall.

It had been long ago looted, but it was not destroyed.

Massive pillars supported the magnificent hall. The walls and pillars were engraved with many writings and murals. The hall had long grown dusty without use, the many markings of grandeur left unseen. 

From the grand doors, a path could be seen, tracing up the stairs, to reach the altar.

Boom!

A blue flame flared into existence atop the altar. It was a magnificent flame, flickering beautifully in the darkness of the hall. Along with its awakening, countless torches that lined the hall flared awake as well, in a ghostly blue. 

"I see. The chosen one comes."

A deafening silence followed.

"Then... I'd best call for help."

The altar began to emit an imperceptible signal many kilometers in radius!

-----(:)-----

The great forest Selden, which bordered Falstein, was massive. The forest spanned many rivers and mountains, and it was one of the great borders between the human Celestrian Empire and the other kingdoms and empires. It was rumored to be one of the oldest forests in all of Alkesia, untamed by all. Despite the dangerous creatures that inhabited the forest, adventurers frequently delved inside in search of materials and treasures. From the E rank goblins to the B rank wyverns, they frequently fought the adventurers who decided to delve into the forest. 

In an orc tribe encampment, an orc sentry suddenly felt a wave of anger. 

The anger rampaged through its mind, making it numb to everything else!

Unable to resist, it roared!

Howl!

Awoooo!

Roar!

It was not aware of the cries of the various other monsters that howled alongside it.

The cacophony filled the mountains and trees!

The orc unconsciously realized that the only way it could sate its anger was rushing towards the home of the weak humans.

However, the orc did not rush off immediately to sate this anger.

No, something in its small mind to wait.

It said to wait, and soon, it would be the time.